[chimera]

While people are entitled to their suspicions, we have little idea of what is actually going on behind the scenes. It’s entirely possible that Stanford is on a pause or taking extra care after the California game without needing to announce it because they haven’t had to cancel a game. I’d point out that Stanford also could have added a game against Washington in Seattle—but that’s not on the schedule either. Arizona likely was able to add the UCLA game since they were headed to California anyway for the Stanford-Cal swing this weekend. It’s possible that there are other conflicts behind the scene that make travel not possible this week for the Beavers that we as fans aren’t privy to. 

I say all of this because I can understand the frustration with wanting more games for our team but reading into tea leaves over relationships is extremely fraught — despite what may have occurred in the past given that we don’t know the full story.

Agree 100%. Also, I find the claim that "teams don't want to play us because they don't want to lose" is awfully soft and sells short the other teams' coaches and players. Teams like Cal and Washington, who have zero chance of making the tourney, should relish the opportunity to play Stanford. The coaches would get to see which of their players will truly compete (tough enough, not scared, won't back down, etc) against better players. They would also get to see their weaknesses completely exploited. And perhaps most importantly, it shows their own team what a top-tier program looks like. Invaluable opportunity.

Many coaches probably want the challenge.  The only thing that makes me think not all coaches think that way is that I've heard from Stanford coaches in a variety of settings over the years say how hard it can be to get teams to play us, that many coaches do not want the probable L.  If I were a coach I would want to play really good teams when I could, but that is not a given.  I also think the NCAA tournament committee places way more weight on how many losses rather than how many good wins, so even a "good" loss can hurt in ways it probably should not and teams with softer schedules but fewer losses can get a boost over teams that challenged themselves more.

[chimera]

While people are entitled to their suspicions, we have little idea of what is actually going on behind the scenes. It’s entirely possible that Stanford is on a pause or taking extra care after the California game without needing to announce it because they haven’t had to cancel a game. I’d point out that Stanford also could have added a game against Washington in Seattle—but that’s not on the schedule either. Arizona likely was able to add the UCLA game since they were headed to California anyway for the Stanford-Cal swing this weekend. It’s possible that there are other conflicts behind the scene that make travel not possible this week for the Beavers that we as fans aren’t privy to. 

I say all of this because I can understand the frustration with wanting more games for our team but reading into tea leaves over relationships is extremely fraught — despite what may have occurred in the past given that we don’t know the full story.

Agree 100%. Also, I find the claim that "teams don't want to play us because they don't want to lose" is awfully soft and sells short the other teams' coaches and players. Teams like Cal and Washington, who have zero chance of making the tourney, should relish the opportunity to play Stanford. The coaches would get to see which of their players will truly compete (tough enough, not scared, won't back down, etc) against better players. They would also get to see their weaknesses completely exploited. And perhaps most importantly, it shows their own team what a top-tier program looks like. Invaluable opportunity.

Many coaches probably want the challenge.  The only thing that makes me think not all coaches think that way is that I've heard from Stanford coaches in a variety of settings over the years say how hard it can be to get teams to play us, that many coaches do not want the probable L.  If I were a coach I would want to play really good teams when I could, but that is not a given.  I also think the NCAA tournament committee places way more weight on how many losses rather than how many good wins, so even a "good" loss can hurt in ways it probably should not and teams with softer schedules but fewer losses can get a boost over teams that challenged themselves more.